Suturing of body tissue is a time consuming aspect of many surgical procedures. For many surgical procedures, it is necessary to make a large opening in the human body to expose the area that requires surgical repair. There are instruments available that allow for viewing of certain areas of the human body through a small puncture wound without exposing the entire body cavity. These instruments, called endoscopes, can be used in conjunction with specialized surgical instruments to detect, diagnose, and repair areas of the body that previously required open surgery to access.
Some surgical instruments used in endoscopic procedures are limited by the manner in which they access the areas of the human body in need of repair. In particular, the instruments may not be able to access tissue or organs located deep within the body or that are in some way obstructed. Also, many of the instruments are limited by the way they grasp tissue, apply a suture, or recapture the needle and suture. Furthermore, many of the instruments are complicated and expensive to use due to the numerous parts and/or subassemblies required to make them function properly. Suturing remains a delicate and time-consuming aspect of most surgeries, including those performed endoscopically.
Many medical procedures require that multiple sutures be placed within a patient. Typical suturing instruments enable a surgeon to place only one suture at a time. With such suturing instruments, the surgeon is required to remove the instrument from a surgical site and reload the instrument between placing each suture. Further, the surgeon may be required to use forceps or other instruments to help place the suture. In some instances, the forceps or other instruments may require an additional incision to access the surgical site.